Six Memorial Hermann hospitals, including their location in Katy, have been named among the nation’s 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters, a leading provider of information and solutions to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. Memorial Hermannâ€™s hospitals were the only ones in the Houston-area to earn the recognition.

Collectively, Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital and Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital were awarded in the teaching hospitals category.Â For the second year in a row, Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital was recognized in the medium community hospitals category.Â And, for the first time, Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital was awarded in the small community hospitals category.

â€œMemorial Hermann is gratified that six of our hospitals were rated by Thomson Reuters to be among the Top 100 U.S. hospitals in 2011,â€ says Michael Shabot, M.D., chief medical officer for Memorial Hermann.Â â€œThomson Reuters provides an objective evaluation based on calculations made on publicly reported quality, safety and patient satisfaction measurements from all hospitals in the country.Â The result of those calculations is that six Memorial Hermann hospitals were ranked in the upper 1 percent of all hospitals in the country.Â We want only the best for our patients and this recognition indicates we are delivering it.â€

To conduct the 100 Top Hospitals study, Thomson Reuters researchers evaluated 2,914 short-term, acute care, non-federal hospitals. They used public information â€” Medicare cost reports, Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, and core measures and patient satisfaction data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare website. Hospitals do not apply, and winners do not pay to market this honor.

The winning hospitals were announced in the March 28 edition of Modern Healthcare magazine.

â€œThis yearâ€™s 100 Top Hospitals award winners have delivered exemplary results, despite volatility from healthcare reform,” says Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president at Thomson Reuters. â€œThe leadership teams at these organizations have dealt with enormous ambiguity, yet remained focused on mission and excellence, which drove national benchmarks to new highs.â€

If all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:

Nearly 116,000 additional patients would survive each year.

More than 197,000 patient complications would be avoided annually.

Expense per adjusted discharge would drop by $462.

The average patient stay would decrease by half a day.

If the same standards were applied to all inpatients, the impact would be even greater.